For this sweet, sweet couple, family was everything. On a modest budget they treated 25 family members to a casually elegant party, right on the beach, in nearby Cayucos. The Hawaiian influence of their ancestors gave me everything I needed to design this nuptial weekend.
This is moments after the ceremony. I loved the bride's choice of footwear accented with a green leaf ankle bracelet. It said fun, casual and no fuss.
After finding the perfect little cottage (which became their honeymoon nest after the reception) I brought in "sand" table drapes and this beautiful Dupioni silk runner to dress the large dining table on the deck. I didn't want one large centerpiece to get in the way of family conversation, and worked with Corinne of pan.a.cea Floral Design to arrange nine separate vases of different flowers. We also added shells and halved coconuts filled with gardenia for that sweet scented air. The vases of flowers also doubled for the ceremony flowers (placed casually in the sand in a circle).
Polynesian music (with some hot Jazz thrown in) serenaded the lovely couple and their families throughout the ceremony and reception. The sunset was breathtaking as the guests ate and shared stories of love, childhoods on the island and the perfect blending of two lives. Mahalo, Mark